# Smoke friendliness by state - Map!



## MDS

A week or two ago I decided to make a map of the United States and shade in the states based on my reaction to research of the respective state's smoking laws and also the laws of the localities within each state and also any personal experience or observations I might have. It was pretty easy to find information, however I will not call myself an expert or say that the map is a perfect representation. I would like to share my map with you so you can get an idea of how the situation is in a place you may be traveling. You may need to do additional research as the map is simply a generalization. Some of you may disagree on certain states. I was surprised at many of my findings. It should be noted that I did not consider just the cigar/pipe smoking world but also cigarette rights, otherwise a few states might have had some higher marks for allowing cigar lounges to be exempt. Some of the states were a close call for me.

A basic idea of my thinking: There are four colors (red, orange, yellow, green). Everything I did was a case by case analysis, but here is the general correlation of the colors...

Red: Statewide smoking ban. Includes Bars and restaurants.
Orange: Statewide ban that exempts bars and possibly some restaurants.
Yellow: No statewide ban but lots of local bans.
Green: No statewide ban and no local bans (OK). Statewide bans that are very lenient (allows bars and certain restaurants) with little or no local bans (NV, VA).

And now here is the map:










I hope this might help some folks and possibly drum up some good conversation over laws between states.


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## nfusion770

Very helpful to see it put together like that- nice work and a bump for your effort. 

You can't see it on the map but there is a 1.25 acre plat of land in the northern suburbs of Minneapolis that should be rendered in bright green .


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## MDS

Indeed and part of Delmarva is still white! Oops!


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## Nature

Great map!! Thanks for putting this together!! Too much RED though.

I would say, however there is some variation. Such as in my state, smoking is banned in all restaurants/bars, however there are exemptions for cigars. There are bars where smoking cigars is allowed, but food cannot be served. They do serve alcohol, and some allow you to bring outside food in yourself (since you can't get it there.) Funny though, seeing someone have to go outside to smoke a cigarette while cigars are being smoked inside.

++1 (I'd give you some RG, if I had any RG power to offer)
:high5:


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## MDS

Nature said:


> Great map!! Thanks for putting this together!! Too much RED though.
> 
> I would say, however there is some variation. Such as in my state, smoking is banned in all restaurants/bars, however there are exemptions for cigars. There are bars where smoking cigars is allowed, but food cannot be served. They do serve alcohol, and some allow you to bring outside food in yourself (since you can't get it there.) Funny though, seeing someone have to go outside to smoke a cigarette while cigars are being smoked inside.
> 
> ++1 (I'd give you some RG, if I had any RG power to offer)
> :high5:


Thanks!

It is a sad thing to know that a lot of the states that are red would have been solid green 10 years ago. I hope that this is no indication of the next 10.


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## Nature

MDS said:


> Thanks!
> 
> It is a sad thing to know that a lot of the states that are red would have been solid green 10 years ago. I hope that this is no indication of the next 10.


Too true!! Most of this has changed in the last decade or less. Good work!


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## CarnivorousPelican

MDS said:


> A week or two ago I decided to make a map of the United States and shade in the states based on my reaction to research of the respective state's smoking laws and also the laws of the localities within each state and also any personal experience or observations I might have. It was pretty easy to find information, however I will not call myself an expert or say that the map is a perfect representation. I would like to share my map with you so you can get an idea of how the situation is in a place you may be traveling. You may need to do additional research as the map is simply a generalization. Some of you may disagree on certain states. I was surprised at many of my findings. It should be noted that I did not consider just the cigar/pipe smoking world but also cigarette rights, otherwise a few states might have had some higher marks for allowing cigar lounges to be exempt. Some of the states were a close call for me.
> 
> A basic idea of my thinking: There are four colors (red, orange, yellow, green). Everything I did was a case by case analysis, but here is the general correlation of the colors...
> 
> Red: Statewide smoking ban. Includes Bars and restaurants.
> Orange: Statewide ban that exempts bars and possibly some restaurants.
> Yellow: No statewide ban but lots of local bans.
> Green: No statewide ban and no local bans (OK). Statewide bans that are very lenient (allows bars and certain restaurants) with little or no local bans (NV, VA).
> 
> And now here is the map:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I hope this might help some folks and possibly drum up some good conversation over laws between states.


I contest the map Only Oklahoma should be green...

The Nevada Clean Indoor Air Act was passed in 2006 and affects the entire state.

On December 1, 2009, an amendment to Virginia's 1990 Indoor Clean Air Act made it a state wide ban.

States with no statewide smoking ban
As of December 2012, 10 states have not enacted any general statewide ban on smoking in any non-government-owned spaces: Alabama, Alaska, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, West Virginia, and Wyoming. Instead, laws in most of these states (see individual state listings below for further information) require proprietors of certain places to designate smoking and non-smoking areas and post warning signage.
In Oklahoma, state law prohibits local governments from regulating smoking more strictly than the state, making it the only state without any kind of legislated smoking bans. In the other nine states, cities and/or counties have enacted stricter smoking laws than the state, in some cases banning smoking in all enclosed workplaces. In Alabama and Mississippi, the state smoking law expressly allows all local governments to do so. In Kentucky, Missouri, South Carolina, and West Virginia, a court has ruled that certain local governments have the power to do so. See the individual state listings below for details.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_smoking_bans_in_the_United_States


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## Mante

Since I'm not in the ConUs...my contribution....forget Earth Hour, lets have Stogie Hour!


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## CarnivorousPelican

Tashaz said:


> Since I'm not in the ConUs...my contribution....forget Earth Hour, lets have Stogie Hour!


American bullshit is the best bullshit you can find admit it  We have even better bullshit aging that will come out of the humidor soon enough stay tuned! We take great pride in our quality bullshit offerings


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## The Nothing

I'd say some good work went into this, but I'd bet with the BOTL, we could make a great map.

For instance, while Oregon has a statewide smoking ban, that ban specifically allows for cigar bars and lounges. There are 3 such cigar friendly places within 10 minutes of my house, probably more if I consider downtown. Because there are places I can go easily, I'd consider Oregon to be orange on the map above.


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## TopsiderLXI

MDS said:


> Thanks!
> 
> It is a sad thing to know that a lot of the states that are red would have been solid green 10 years ago. I hope that this is no indication of the next 10.


I would bet money that it is....unfortunately....


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## CarnivorousPelican

The Nothing said:


> I'd say some good work went into this, but I'd bet with the BOTL, we could make a great map.
> 
> For instance, while Oregon has a statewide smoking ban, that ban specifically allows for cigar bars and lounges. There are 3 such cigar friendly places within 10 minutes of my house, probably more if I consider downtown. Because there are places I can go easily, I'd consider Oregon to be orange on the map above.


Oregon is pretty bad... When I visited there I thought it was quite insane.. especially not smoking around doors or windows etc...


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## ejewell

Well at least I'm moving from one orange to another.... could be worse!


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## MDS

@CarnivorousPelican

Nevada and Virginia were both borderline cases for me. I have read that Virginia allows restaurant smoking if there is a separate smoking section and Nevada allows it in smaller restaurants. Neither state has many local ordinances that supersede this, so I thought it was a better situation than the yellows. Oklahoma, however, could be a platinum state.


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## CarnivorousPelican

MDS said:


> @CarnivorousPelican
> 
> Nevada and Virginia were both borderline cases for me. I have read that Virginia allows restaurant smoking if there is a separate smoking section and Nevada allows it in smaller restaurants. Neither state has many local ordinances that supersede this, so I thought it was a better situation than the yellows. Oklahoma, however, could be a platinum state.


I am not trying to put the map down or anything like that am commenting specifically to actually make the map better 

Red: Statewide smoking ban. Includes Bars and restaurants.
Orange: Statewide ban that exempts bars and possibly some restaurants. ( Exception States for places that don't serve food, casino's, and bars )
Yellow: No statewide ban but lots of local bans. ( This would be the 9 states Alabama, Alaska, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, West Virginia, and Wyoming )
Green: No statewide ban and no local bans (OK)

Should probably add Alaska on there


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## CarnivorousPelican

It almost looks like a Red State blue state in reverse lol.... Do an Overlay of the states with gun control etc ontop of it  then contrast with crime statistics see what we get


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## MDS

PA exempts bars and restaurants that make less than 20% of profits off of food.

I do appreciate your contribution though. RG+


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## CarnivorousPelican

MDS said:


> PA exempts bars and restaurants that make less than 20% of profits off of food.
> 
> I do appreciate your contribution though. RG+


Sorry to Jack your Thread MDS... I apologize but after work I had a great idea... Plus needed to update PA


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## piperdown

The only issue I have with the map is that you're basing the entire color on towns/cities and the laws therein.
If I'm out in the country there are no bans.


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## CarnivorousPelican

piperdown said:


> The only issue I have with the map is that you're basing the entire color on towns/cities and the laws therein.
> If I'm out in the country there are no bans.


There are 10 states that don't have state level smoking regulations and only one of those dictates that the counties can't have stricter regulations than the state law...  Which is OK... The rest have county level regulations which some are harsh and some are not. Enforcement is a different issue all together... If you like I can change ban to regulation


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## christian1971

I heard a legislator in my state of MN consider an all out ban on all tobacco products. Believes this will force healthcosts to go down signif. Why has this society become so lax in the loss over their rights? Have we forgotten how to rebell?


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## CarnivorousPelican

christian1971 said:


> I heard a legislator in my state of MN consider an all out ban on all tobacco products. Believes this will force healthcosts to go down signif. Why has this society become so lax in the loss over their rights? Have we forgotten how to rebell?


As they decriminalize marijuana and criminalize tobacco all it will do is shift the black market... Just stupid... It almost makes you think government wants black markets...


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## TheGipper

Cool idea. Now we need clickable map that would take us to a list of exempted places within that state. Unfortunately for Washington and Oregon, they would be short lists...but there are a few.


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## CarnivorousPelican

TheGipper said:


> Cool idea. Now we need clickable map that would take us to a list of exempted places within that state. Unfortunately for Washington and Oregon, they would be short lists...but there are a few.


I think they have an app.. If not I can see a app... Smokers Friend App that locates smoking lounges near you with reviews etc with a detailed informational deal about the area you are in from GPS coordinates...


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## Spankmeister

Oklahoma is OK


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## TheGipper

CarnivorousPelican said:


> I think they have an app.. If not I can see a app... Smokers Friend App that locates smoking lounges near you with reviews etc with a detailed informational deal about the area you are in from GPS coordinates...


Brilliant...I'd pay $0.99 for that.


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## CarnivorousPelican

I tried one while in New Orleans called cigar locator and it sucked terrible interface and didn't work with my phones GPS android os... I ended up having to use google...


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## smokeyme

Spankmeister said:


> Oklahoma is OK


As far as i know there are still remaining 7 states have no laws prohibiting smoking in these public places. But by 2020 they say that every U.S. state will have a smoking ban by 2020.


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## edwardsdigital

christian1971 said:


> ... Why has this society become so lax in the loss over their rights? Have we forgotten how to rebell?


In a word.... YES.


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## Merleos

who would figure Oklahoma would be so smoke friendly....I suppose it comes from all those tax-free Native American smoke shops.


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## Johnny Z

I'm in different states weekly, so this may help me. That is; to decide how many to bring on the road.


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## madmarvcr

Iowa allows smoking in Casino's. Casino's are scattered all over the state. 90% of the population can get to a casino within a 20-30 min drive. The closest one to me is a 12 mile drive. I go there often in the winter, just to relax and smoke a nice cigar.


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## voiceoverguy

madmarvcr said:


> Iowa allows smoking in Casino's. Casino's are scattered all over the state. 90% of the population can get to a casino within a 20-30 min drive. The closest one to me is a 12 mile drive. I go there often in the winter, just to relax and smoke a nice cigar.


Just to add to what Marvin stated:
Iowa allows smoking on the gaming floor of casinos; certain designated hotel rooms; and inside tobacco retailers.

It used to be so nice to be able to go into a bar, enjoy a fine libation and light up a nice cigar... Quoth the raven, "nevermore".


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## Skoallio

the map is misleading. All the states are painted with one brush. In most states without total NY style smoking bans, almost every major city and county has a total smoking ban. The 3 top smoke friendly states should be Florida, Pennsylvania, and Oklahoma. Those are the only states where cities and counties cannot enact a smoking ban stricter than the state law. Oklahoma allows smoking in restaurants and bars. Florida and Pennsylvania bans smoking in restaurants but allows it in bars. If you go to the wikipedia page on smoking bans in the United States. Where its still legal to smoke in bars and restaurants on the state level, most of those states have a long list of cities and counties banning it. That makes it extremely hard to find a place where you could eat, drink and smoke in the same place indoors. The cities and counties banning smoking should be included on the map and be shaded the correct color.


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## benjimo

Sadly I'll be moving from decently puffer friendly Texas, to puffer's hell New York City come this August. Damn you college.


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## JustinThyme

Too much going on in here and it changes frequently.
Yes you are screwed royally if moving to NYC. Hopefully they will relax it a bit. I was where no smoking indoors or within 25 ft of an entry. Now you cant smoke in NYC period or have a soda larger than 16oz. (I give kudos to the pizza shop owner that refused to serve Bloomberg a second slice of pizza telling him it was not good for him!). 

The post about Florida above is totally inaccurate. They were one of the very first to enact a state wide ban. I was there when it went into effect. Now there is still a statewide ban in all public places but you can smoke in just about any bar. Why is that? The bar owners saw a huge loss in revenue as smoking and drinking go hand in hand. So they worked around the law. Most bars in Florida became private clubs where you have to be a member. Whats it take to be a member, pay up your $1 and you are in. Now its no longer a public place and therefore does not fall under that law.

The real pisser is I dont care where you go, even where it isnt banned, cigar smoking is not allowed.


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## huskers

JustinThyme said:


> Too much going on in here and it changes frequently.
> Yes you are screwed royally if moving to NYC. Hopefully they will relax it a bit. I was where no smoking indoors or within 25 ft of an entry. Now you cant smoke in NYC period or have a soda larger than 16oz. (I give kudos to the pizza shop owner that refused to serve Bloomberg a second slice of pizza telling him it was not good for him!).
> 
> The post about Florida above is totally inaccurate. They were one of the very first to enact a state wide ban. I was there when it went into effect. Now there is still a statewide ban in all public places but you can smoke in just about any bar. Why is that? The bar owners saw a huge loss in revenue as smoking and drinking go hand in hand. So they worked around the law. Most bars in Florida became private clubs where you have to be a member. Whats it take to be a member, pay up your $1 and you are in. Now its no longer a public place and therefore does not fall under that law.
> 
> *The real pisser is I dont care where you go, even where it isnt banned, cigar smoking is not allowed.*


This pretty much sums this whole thread up.


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